Disagreement seemed inevitable, as U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert is a polarizing figure.

But Dolores School District Superintendent Reece Blincoe didn’t think the issue would linger for as long as it has or turn quite as sour for his small community in rural, southwest Colorado.

Blincoe, a principal and other officials have been under fire for weeks from a group of parents angry and concerned that the district invited Boebert to speak to several hundred students at Dolores Middle & High School last month for a civics discussion that turned somewhat political.

Parents within the district say they were blocked from attending or watching the congresswoman’s address to the students when they voiced concern ahead of time. And they’re worried about the message that hosting Boebert sends to the students.

Boebert has a history of espousing anti-LGBTQ views. She’s called women “weaker” than men, criticized the separation of church and state and made Islamophobic comments implying a colleague in Congress might be a terrorist. Political and religious experts say her Christian nationalist rhetoric presents a danger to the country’s democratic foundations.

Read more at DenverPost.com.